Chuck Versus the Moment of Courage
by Imagination-Parade
Summary: "You know, if we were really dating, this would be the part where I'd be forced to kiss you goodnight." What if Sarah hadn't walked away?


_Hi everyone! I promise the last chapter of Honeymoon is coming up soon, but late-night insomnia struck in a different direction this time. _

_My mom has been in town, and I've been introducing her to Chuck, and when we watched "Chuck Versus the Tango," I started wondering how that last Chuck & Sarah scene might've gone if Sarah hadn't walked away before Chuck could "cover" kiss her goodnight. And thus, this short little story was born._

_As always, Chuck isn't mine, and please review!_

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><p>"What's the good of being a hero if nobody knows about it?" Chuck Bartowski lamented.<p>

The newly-inducted spy was standing in the moonlit courtyard of his apartment complex with the beautiful woman who was supposed to be his girlfriend. Successfully completing a first mission and not dying in the process should've made him happy, he knew. Instead, it had the opposite effect, making Chuck harder on himself and his life outside of the spy world than normal. Sarah Walker had just finished rattling off his achievements, with a hint of impressed in her tone. Upon his words, she shot him a small sympathetic smile.

"_You_ know," Sarah said firmly. With a nod, she added, "And so do I."

Chuck's face instantly softened. Impressing the girl was another accomplishment for him, but he was in awe of her. In the short amount of time he'd known her, he'd seen her do so many extraordinary things, but it was more than that. She always knew what to say to make him feel better. She seemed to actually care about him. She didn't have to be so nice to him; goodness knows Casey wasn't. She never made it seem like evenings with his family and friends were work for her. He knew it might be all for cover; she _was_ playing his girlfriend, but he couldn't help but think there was something else there. She was looking at him, waiting for him to say something, and he struggled to find words to fill the slightly uncomfortable silence.

"You know…if we were really dating, this would be the part where I'd be forced to kiss you goodnight," he teased, arms still crossed over his chest.

A brilliant smile, one filled with surprise and amusement, broke out across her face somewhere in the middle of his statement.

"Forced?" she asked immediately. "Would it be so bad?"

His eyebrows rose slightly at her question. He hadn't expected that response. They both knew they were treading into dangerous territory.

"I'm sure I could suffer through it," he offered with a half-smile and a spark of mischief.

Sarah's face subdued as a tingle fluttered across her stomach, something she wasn't used to. She held his gaze, internally wondering how to respond. The spy screamed at her to say goodnight to her asset and walk away; the girl wanted to tell the sweet, charming guy standing in front of her that his feelings were mutual. For once, the girl won.

"Me too," she admitted with a slight nod.

The gentle sounds of the fountain beside them complemented the silence between the handler and her asset as they looked at one another again. Sarah's eyes traveled over his face, and Chuck's smile faded as both of them contemplated their next move. Sarah, having compromised herself enough for one night, was just about to open her mouth on a sigh and walk away when she felt Chuck's large hand lightly slide against her waist. She looked down to the place where his hand gripped her body.

"Chuck, what are you doing?" she asked with a nervous giggle, unconsciously taking a tiny step closer to him.

"I…I don't really know," Chuck stuttered. "Apparently I'm having a rare moment of courage. I don't know where it's coming from. It seemed like the right thing to do…in the moment. Plus, if I know my sister, _and I do_, she's probably peeking at us through my bedroom window right about now."

Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes, momentarily looking away from Chuck. To an onlooker, she would look like nothing more than a woman giggling and shyly glancing away at something her boyfriend said. As a spy, she used the feminine move to check out Chuck's window. Sarah stepped a little closer to Chuck, concealing her mouth behind Chuck's shoulder on the off-chance that the elder Bartowski had the ability to read lips.

"Yup, there she is," Sarah said. "She's not even trying to hide."

"My sister is not one for the subtleties when it comes to things like this," Chuck said.

Sarah glanced at the hand on her waist again and said, "So you're just…protecting our cover?"

"Yeah, right, just…just the cover," Chuck mumbled.

He finally relaxed, becoming a little more comfortable with holding Sarah as they slowly moved closer. Her lips fell open just a little bit, and she dropped her eyes to Chuck's mouth. Their steady breaths mingled as his gaze dropped to her lips as well. Sarah looked back up at his eyes, and he met her stare.

"So…since she's watching…you should probably kiss me," Sarah said. After a beat, she added, "For the cover, of course."

Chuck leaned in and allowed his hand to slide from the side of her waist to the small of her back; Sarah's eyes slipped shut.

"Of course," Chuck whispered.

It was the best first kiss of Sarah's life and nothing like how she thought their first kiss would be. Chuck's hand was strong and firm on her lower back, holding her to him in a way that made her feel treasured and safe. His kiss was soft and smooth, not the kind of kiss she had expected from a man who, admittedly, had never dated much. Her hands fumbled for a moment, as she wasn't quite sure what to do with them. She finally curled one hand around his face, lightly caressing his neck with her fingertips. Their remaining free hands found one another, fingers loosely lacing together at their sides.

Their tongues collided as they moved to lick each other's lip and deepen the kiss at the same time. Sarah involuntarily let out a small moan as Chuck coiled his tongue around hers and pulled her closer. Pressed against each other, they kissed slowly by the fountain, under the guise of their cover relationship; they both knew, however, that under the cover, under the façade that they presented to both themselves and the world, this…their first kiss…this was _real_.

A metallic taste filled their mouths as Chuck began to suck on Sarah's lower lip, causing him to finally pull away and break their kiss. He instantly looked horrified when he opened his eyes and found Sarah's lip bleeding. She opened her eyes slowly, a look of alarm crossing her face when she saw his expression.

"Oh my god," Chuck said. "Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry. I forgot…the lucky kick…I was looking right at you, and I forgot…"

"It's okay, Chuck," she said with a smile, stopping his rambling. "I forgot, too."

She dabbed at her lip with the back of her hand and glanced up at Chuck. Sarah took a deep breath, and they shared a small smile before reverting back into a sober silence.

"Goodnight, Chuck," Sarah finally said. She readjusted her purse on her shoulder and turned to walk away.

"Goodnight," Chuck called lamely.

Chuck watched her for the next few steps, waiting to see if her abrupt exit was really going to be her exit or if she would turn around and say something more. When she didn't, he turned and headed back into his apartment.

"I know you were watching us, so you might as well come out and admit it!" Chuck called as he shut the front door behind him.

Ellie Bartowski hurried down the hallway, squealing with delight as she made her way towards her little brother. She grabbed his arm when she reached him and hugged it to her.

"You and Sarah are so cute!" Ellie said.

"Wow…you're not even going to apologize for spying on my intimate moment with my girlfriend?" Chuck asked with mock offense. Ellie simply grinned at him. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, sis."

"Wait – Chuck!" she called as he headed down the hallway.

He turned. "Yeah, El?"

She shot him a knowing smile. "That looked like a _good_ kiss."

Chuck smiled one of his patented, bright Chuck Bartowski grins. "The best."

Back outside, John Casey stepped out of the shadows as Sarah made her way through the complex's entrance to reach the sidewalk that would lead her down to the road. Dressed casually, he wore his surveillance headphones around his neck, obviously having been eavesdropping on Chuck and Sarah's private moment via the equipment that Chuck was, as of yet, still blissfully ignorant to but Sarah was very much aware of. Sarah gasped and momentarily faltered as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He snickered and held out some tissues.

"You could suffer through it, eh, Walker?" he grunted.

Without stopping or missing a beat, she snatched the tissues from his hands, pressed them against her bleeding lip, and headed for her Porsche.

With a deathly look, she simply replied, "Shut up, Casey."

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><p><em>Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it. As someone who's only written Charah stories set <em>after_ they got together, going back to Season 1 was an interesting experiment for me as a writer. Don't forget to review!_


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